Page 70 of The Vampire Curse

I lean forward and pause to look her in the eye. “Breathe and be calm.”

She nods once.

I lower my mouth, calling my power to me, and bite down.

My fangs sink into her. The taste of her blood fills my mouth. Clara gasps, her knees collapsing from under her, but my arm keeps her from falling.

I can feel the mark taking hold as she responds, pressing her body tighter against mine.

Slowly, I release her and place my palm over the bite mark. Red veins of power flow over my fingers, hand, and up my arm, swirling. I push the smallest amount into her. Clara hisses through her teeth.

The wound is smaller than her last, and with each subsequent mark, the less she will need my power to heal. When I remove my hand, the bite mark has closed, leaving only two small scars behind.

When she’s steady, I let her go and step back. It has been so long since I have fed from anyone without compelling, so they don’t look at me the way Clara is looking at me now.

Clara steps forward and wraps her arms around my neck. I know what she wants… what my mark has made her want.

It’s not real.

Another man would give in. I want her, but she needs to understand how each bite will feel. Once the effects of this first mark wear off, I don’t want her to regret anything.

I cup her face with both of my hands and wait for her eyes to clear enough that I know she’s ready to listen. “You should go to your rooms and rest. I will send Cherno to watch over you.”

Her expression falls into one of confusion and hurt. She untangles her limbs from me, and I let go. Her brows furrow, eyes glistening and darkening as her mind and body war with one another.

It would be easy to give in, but if I took advantage of her, she would never forgive me.

As Clara opens the door to leave, she stumbles to a stop. The door opens wider.

Lawrence stands with one fist raised to knock. He lifts his face and sniffs the air. She glares openly at him, then moves past without a word.

The power hits me harder than I would have thought possible. I need time alone after giving her the first mark, but it looks as if that won’t be happening.

Lawrence closes the door and chuckles as he crosses the room to sit in the chair at my desk. “That one has spirit, but I don’t know how you do it…”

He’s baiting me and I know it. I rise and take it, ready for him to say whatever it is that he came here to say. Though, I have my suspicions about what it is.

“Do what?”

Lawrence rests his arms on the desk and leans in. “Get an unmarked human to lie for you when the truth will only get her killed once it comes to light—and itwillcome to light.” He sits back in the chair. “Does she even know the extent of the danger she’s in?”

“Of course, she knows,” I snap.

Lawrence narrows his eyes. “You finally gave her the first mark,” he says.

“Yes.”

“Finish it, or she will die.”

I clench my teeth, a muscle in my jaw ticking. “Whether she is marked one or two more times is her decision. I’ll not take that from her.”

He throws his hands in the air, frustrated as if he’s talking to a child. “You and Rosalie with your unnatural affinity to humans. They are inferior to us—they are not our equals.”

I say nothing. We have debated this topic for years, and we will never agree.

His eyes narrow, his mind going in the same direction as mine. “Where is Rosalie? It has been over a month, and we have not seen or heard from her. Why hasn’t she been around?”

I hang my head and rub my brow. Taking a deep breath, I release it slowly. “She is dead…” I admit. “Murdered—during the claiming.”